Echinacea Kismet® 'White'

Echinacea Kismet® 'White': Flip the Lights On in the Border

Large, pure white daisies with golden-orange cones, so crisp they look professionally laundered. 'White' is the guest who arrives on time, brings wine and actually helps with the dishes. A RARE BREED.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Echinacea 'TNECHKW'
• Common Name: Coneflower
• Series: Kismet®, from Terra Nova® Nurseries
• Height: 45 cm (18 in) in flower, with a foliage mound about 38 cm (15 in)
• Spread: 45 cm (18 in)
• Flowers: Large, long-lasting pure white daisies with a golden-orange cone
• Bloom Time: Early summer to fall (June to October)
• Foliage: Green, forming a compact, mounded clump
• Features: Blooms the first year

Where to Plant: White flowers glow at dusk, so it earns a place near a patio or along a path you use in the evening. Its short habit suits the front of a border, a big container or a small city garden where a taller plant would flop over the walkway.

Companion Plants: Use white KISMET® in a sunny, dry bed with orange poppies, hot pink sedum and pink pincushions. Sedum SunSparkler® 'Firecracker' edges the front at 15 cm with hot pink flowers in August and September. Scabiosa 'Pink Mist' adds light pink pincushions at 30 to 45 cm from June to October. Papaver 'Prince of Orange' opens tangerine poppies at 70 to 80 cm in May and June. Schizachyrium Prairie Winds® 'Blue Paradise' rises at 90 to 105 cm, silvery blue in summer.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun in average, well-drained soil. Coneflowers rot in wet winter soil, so improve heavy clay or plant slightly high. Water regularly the first season, then only in long dry spells. Deadhead to keep new buds coming. A light mulch after the ground freezes helps fall-planted coneflowers through their first winter. Leave the last seed heads for the birds and cut back in early spring. There's no need to divide it often. If it gets crowded after a few years, divide gently in spring.

History: Terra Nova® Nurseries in Oregon bred the Kismet® series from crosses between Echinacea species, aiming for more crowns, more first-year bloom and better winter survival. 'White' won a Classic City Award at the University of Georgia Trial Gardens in 2020, a trial known for testing plants in hot, humid summers.

Final Thoughts: Mix it in with hot colours to stop the border from getting too rowdy. EVERY PARTY NEEDS A DESIGNATED DRIVER.